Srinagar, May 9 : The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has stayed an order issued by the Additional Deputy Commissioner Jammu, which had earlier rejected an appeal for the issuance of a Scheduled Tribe certificate to Garvit Raina, a 27-year-old student claiming to belong to the Pahari-speaking ethnic group.
The stay was granted by a single-judge bench of Justice Mohd. Yousuf Wani, who also instructed the ADC Jammu to conduct a prompt review of the previous decision dated October 19, 2024.
Garvit Raina had initially applied for an ST certificate on August 8, 2024, with the Tehsildar of RS Pura, Jammu, asserting his identity as a member of the Pahari ethnic clan, with roots in Tehsil Plandari, Poonch (currently in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir). He also stated that Pahari was his mother tongue. However, his application was denied by the Tehsildar, and the appeal against that rejection was later dismissed by the ADC Jammu.
Challenging the decisions, Raina filed a writ petition in the High Court through his legal counsel, Advocates Chetan Prabhakar and Karan Prasher. The petition sought to quash the ADC’s order and requested that directions be issued to the authorities to grant him the ST certificate.
In his petition, Raina emphasized that the legislative intent behind granting reservations to the Pahari Ethnic Group is based on linguistic and cultural identity, not confined to specific geographic areas. [KNT]
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